All consumers to get free DVSA MOT reminder

The Government team overseeing vehicles is trying to make it easier for consumers to remember when their car’s MOT test is due.

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency is currently refining a piece of software which will enable consumers to register with it to receive an annual MOT reminder by SMS and email. Already around 104,000 people are using the service, it said.

“This should help us get the number of late MOTs down, as well as bringing in more work to MOT garages,” said a spokesman.

The DVSA said it is frequently asked for details of a car’s MOT history, so it is working on improvements to its service to show the details of the workshop where the MOT took place.

The spokesman added: “We know that at the moment some automated systems scan and use data from the service - which is fine for the data we currently make available. However, with garage data they could try and compare test results by garage, in a way that might mislead the public.

“We’re working on stopping this type of automated access, and once we’ve done that, we’ll make this garage information available to the general public and promote it more widely.”